


Once Upon A Dream

by Muupoo



Category: Kamen Rider OOO
Genre: Angst, But also hopeful...?, Canon Compliant, Dreaming, Feels, M/M, Post-Canon, This is set between OOOs x Fourze movie megamax and HeiGen final
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-01
Updated: 2018-07-01
Packaged: 2019-05-23 18:40:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14939732
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Muupoo/pseuds/Muupoo
Summary: Eiji and Ankh meet in a dream after their final encounter and talk about things that were left unsaid.





	Once Upon A Dream

**Author's Note:**

> Hello!! This is the first time I'm writing a Kamen Rider fic and I'm honestly super excited about that! OOOs is very precious to me and so are Eiji and Ankh, so I'm hoping to write a lot more about them in the future! I hope you enjoy reading this and that my writing feels in-character enough! 
> 
> Please leave a comment too if you enjoyed it, I'd love to hear what others think as well as talk about OOOs!

Ankh gasped as air rushed into his lungs, his eyes snapping open from what felt like a century-long sleep. When exactly had he fallen asleep? Where had he ended up? Ankh panted heavily and tried to grasp his thoughts as his lungs worked to catch up with his heart rate. He had been falling... from the sky... That's right, Eiji had been there. What had happened to him? The Greeed scrambled up from where he was lying, scanning the view for any signs of the Rider. Before him lay a vast field filled with blooming flowers of various colours and shapes. The field continued far beyond the horizon, just flowers and grass gently swaying in the wind as far as the eye could see. He was sure he had never been here before, the scenery in its entirety was just... unreal, like a dream or a vision of a place that didn't exist.  

  

"Oh, you're awake?"  

 

Ankh's head immediately snapped to the direction of the voice that had broken the silence, to the ground beside him. 

 

It was Eiji. 

  

He was lying on the grass on his back, head supported by his hands while his right foot rested on top of his knee. His eyes were closed and he seemed... relaxed, almost nonchalantly so, despite the current situation. It was as if they had never been in danger, fighting to finish off Maki after which... oh, right. 

  

He had disappeared.   

  

Ankh's brows knit into a frown as he looked down at Eiji, trying to understand the confusing situation. Clearly this shouldn't have been possible under any circumstances.  

  

"Eiji... where is this?"  

  

Eiji didn't open his eyes to look at him and simply hummed, swaying his foot as he seemingly enjoyed the sun (at least Ankh believed the light to be the sun, though he wasn't quite sure about that).  

 

"This is... my dream." Eiji said, his tone melancholic as he continued "I guess this is my way of visualising you since I have no other way of seeing you right now. So... this is how I can see you, from time to time. So that I won't forget."  

  

Ankh realized he must have been asleep longer than he thought as it seemed that enough time had passed for Eiji to become lonely enough see him in his dreams. But... Eiji said he recognized this as a dream, which meant he had seen dreams like this before. For Ankh, however, it was only now that he had awoken himself and this was the first time he had any memory of seeing Eiji ever since his own disappearance. Which meant that... his consciousness had awoken within Eiji's dream? Was that really possible? That, or this was just a very cruel dream he was having. Ankh didn't have much experience with having dreams in the first place, but if this was one, it felt completely different from the one he had had before. 

  

Ankh lifted his gaze from Eiji to the field in front of him again, eyes locked to nowhere in particular as he looked at the scenery.  

  

"Then... why am  _I_   here?"  

  

It was now that Eiji finally opened his eyes, gaze slowly rising to the back of Ankh's head.  

  

"What do you mean?" Ankh could feel Eiji's eyes on him. The familiarity of his presence was there, a clear memory like it had only been yesterday that they had last seen each other. Ankh could not bring himself to look at Eiji just yet and decided to focus on finding a way to convey his thoughts instead. 

  

"I... feel like I just woke up... for the first time since then. I feel like... I'm actually here. Even though it's a dream... I can tell it's you." Ankh's voice was low and raspy, each syllable feeling heavy on his tongue when he tried to find the right words.  

  

The grass beneath Eiji rustled as the man hurriedly stumbled upright, eyes seeking for Ankh's gaze when he leaned in closer to him. 

  

"Ankh, you... you're really here? " Eiji's voice cracked from emotion, unable to hold the anticipation inside him.  

  

Ankh slowly turned his head to face him, eyes lingering on the ground before they moved to meet his gaze. Eiji's eyes were shining in the light as tears begun rising to his eyes and it seemed like he could barely keep them from streaming down his face. Well, Eiji has always been overly emotional about things like these, after all. 

  

Ankh clicked his tongue, giving the Rider a flick right in the middle of his forehead, sending the man staggering backwards as he yelped in both pain and surprise.  

  

"Why else would I be saying that? Idiot. You really are thick in the head, aren't you?" Ankh returned his gaze back to the scenery, ignoring the bewildered look on Eiji's face as his palm rubbed his forehead in reaction to the sudden action. Soon the corners of Eiji's mouth were turning upwards though, and the man let out a heartfelt chuckle as he settled to a better position on the grass again, hands supporting him upright as his gaze followed Ankh's to the horizon. 

  

"Haha, yeah... I guess I am." 

  

The two of them sat in a silence for a moment, unsure how to proceed with their conversation. It was Eiji who finally broke the silence. 

  

"I'm glad you're alright. I'm really, really glad."   

  

Ankh felt a lump catch on his throat. He couldn't say it, but he was glad too. Glad to be here, to be able to hear Eiji's voice again. All he could do was close his eyes and wait until he was calm enough to speak again. His pride wouldn't let Eiji see him getting emotional about this, not right now. Ankh took a deep breath, lifting his head up to gaze to look at the sky. It seemed so far away, like something unreachable, someplace he could not fly to, despite being able to grow his wings again. As an...  _almost_  complete being. It was so different from the sky they were flying in on his final day. 

  

"Yeah." It was all Ankh could say, gaze still locked towards the sky. He couldn't look at Eiji. Not yet. 

  

"You know..." Eiji spoke up, neither of the two turning to look at each other as he continued "even though you told me the Greeed are just things, that they could never die..." The man breathed slowly, a method that Ankh assumed was to keep him from sounding too emotional again. "It sure has felt like it." 

 

Ankh wondered what Eiji had been doing to make it feel so. He wouldn't ask though.    
    
 

"I think I did though. Die, that is." 

 

"But, you're-" 

 

"Clearly that is not the case. But..." Ankh looked down at his hands, remembering how he had felt at his last moments as they were falling through sky. He had felt... complete, for the first time in his over 800-year existence. Like he had found a purpose, his reason to exist, beside this man that wanted to see him live another day so, so badly. For someone like him, a monster in human's eyes, to become someone that would exist. A person. 

 

"That day, I think I finally became someone. Someone that could die." Ankh said, sounding content. "Because of you... and that woman..."    
  

"Hina?"    
  

Ankh nodded, knowing that Eiji wasn't really looking.  

  
    
"You two... treated me like a person. Maybe not at first but... When I told her my core was broken, she was worried about it. Worried about someone who used her brother's body as a convenient tool, or wasn't even human..." 

    
Ankh sighed. 

 

"I existed for the two of you, at least" 

 

Ankh wouldn't look at Eiji, but he was sure the man was smiling now. He knew Eiji must've been overjoyed, having him admit something like that. This was probably the closest they could have to a heart-to-heart talk, considering Ankh's pride and stubbornness. He'd let Eiji have this, for this time. It was now clear that Eiji was smiling once he spoke up again. 

 

"You were never _a thing_ to me. From the start... it was obvious that behind your motives and actions, you always had a personality. You had likes and dislikes, like... you preferred cold over hot, certain colours and textures over others... Little things, smaller desires that made you... a person. That's what I thought, at least. " 

 

It was Ankh's turn to suck a breath in an attempt to fight his emotions back.   

 

"I also think... you had emotions. Maybe you couldn't recognise them at first, or maybe you wouldn't admit they were there, but... When I had the purple medals inside me, I... started to understand more things about being a Greeed and what things you could experience, now that you had a human body. I think you might have been capable of feeling, for the first time." 

 

Ankh closed his eyes. It was all true what Eiji said. Being together all that time, they had ended up becoming more like each other, in a way. Eiji had become much more like Greeed in search for power and a purpose to fight, while Ankh had found himself turning more human by each passing moment in a presence of this man who was so willing to help anyone in need, to always risk his life to save another. It was a bit frustrating, knowing that Eiji had seen through his façade and every attempt to try and hide any visible emotion. Maybe that much was to be expected, considering how much time they had spent together. Ankh smirked. They'd really grown much closer than he liked to admit, huh? 

 

He heard Eiji chuckle.     
 

    
"I really missed this. Just... talking to you, I guess." The Rider leaned forward, enjoying the warm gust of wind that blew over them, his hair swaying in the wind as flower petals flew past them. 

 

"You know, actually, now that I think about it.... This is the first time I'm having a dream of you where we actually... talk." Eiji said, voice fading out towards the end as his own words really hit him.    
 

    
Ankh looked puzzled. What did he mean by that? 

 

"I've seen dreams of you... of us... In them, we were falling, just like we did that day. And I tried to reach you, I tried so hard to grasp your hand but you were too far away, always out of my reach. We were just repeating the same words we said back then, over and over again. It never changed. I..." his voice cracked again "I wanted to see you again, more than anything. I've been trying to find a way to restore your core, I've read so many researches, talked to so many people... None of it has worked. I was so scared I could never talk to you again, I-" 

  

"Eiji"   

  

"Y-yeah?" Eiji was sniffling and Ankh guessed from the sounds that he was fighting back tears again. 

  

"How long has it been? Since that day?" 

  

There was a moment of silence before Eiji spoke up again. 

  

"Six years." 

  

Ankh's eyes widened. He'd realized it had been long by now, but that it had been so many years... It was no wonder Eiji was so on the edge about this. Maybe he should be more careful with his choice of words for now. 

  

"But..." Eiji continued "I met you once... a year after that. It was you, from the future. I think..." he took a breath, voice shaking a little as he exhaled "I think it's what's been keeping me going for all this time. Knowing that you exist in the future. I just didn't know how you came back and... I was scared I couldn't do it."  

  

Eiji turned to look at Ankh, eyes filled with worry. He could tell Eiji was afraid, even from just a gaze to his side. Eiji looked truly scared, as if he feared Ankh would disappear right in front of his very eyes. 

  

"Ankh... I think... there's something I should tell you. Since... For all we know, this could be the last time I can talk to you. I should have told you long ago, when I still had the chance, really, but-" 

  

"Don't." 

  

"H-Huh?" 

  

Ankh finally turned to look at Eiji, his whole body turning so it was completely facing the man.  

  

"You're going revive me, aren't you? Then it can wait until then." 

  

"But I-" 

  

"Eiji." Ankh snapped, cutting him off again. His hands reached out to grab Eiji's shoulders, squeezing them like he was holding onto them for his dear life. His voice kept rising as he spoke. 

  

"You said so yourself. That you met me from the future. That means you can do it." Ankh's right hand travelled downwards, finding Eiji's hand and squeezing it almost violently. "Eiji. You hold my very existence within your hands. You are the one who has the power to restore me. It's YOU who's carrying my core with you around the world. So that I can return."   

  

Ankh gazed downwards at their hands, then back at Eiji again. "Do you understand, Eiji?"     
  

Ankh's sharp, red eyes dug holes into Eiji, who simply sat there in awe at the Greeed's words, mouth gaping open. Ankh knew him well enough to know that he understood the meaning in his words from his expression alone. It was written all over his face, really; the sincerity and emotion that Ankh wished he could express more freely, it was all reflected from Eiji's eyes.  

 

Eiji chuckled, wiping his coming tears to his sleeve as he pulled himself together again. He smiled at Ankh with a wide, blinding smile, filled with emotion. 

    
    
"Yeah, I do." 

 

Then Eiji woke up, with tear stains on the side of his face. 

**Author's Note:**

> Shout-out to Juu for proof-reading and editing, you're always a huge help!


End file.
